'The L Word' cast: Where are they now? (2024)

Jennifer Beals (Bette Porter)

Jennifer Beals rose to fame when she starred in Flashdance in 1983, after which her various roles before The L Word included the films Vampire's Kiss (1989), In the Soup (1992), and Devil in a Blue Dress (1995), in addition to a handful of TV appearances and a dozen TV movies.

Since her run on The L Word ended, the actress has appeared in The Book of Eli (2010), Before I Fall (2017), After (2019), and Luckiest Girl Alive (2022). She also had main roles on the short-lived series Proof and Taken and recurring roles on The Night Shift, The Book of Boba Fett, and . Beals reprised her role as Bette Porter for Showtime's L Word sequel series, The L Word: Generation Q.

Leisha Hailey (Alice Pieszecki)

Leisha Hailey began her career in music as one half of the pop duo the Murmurs, which was active throughout the '90s and changed its name to Gush in 2001. The band broke up when Hailey was cast on The L Word, after which she did more work as an actress, appearing in episodes of Drop Dead Diva, The New Normal, Supernatural, and Silicon Valley, among other series and films.

Since 2016, she has been on hiatus from being part of the music duo Uh Huh Her with Camila Grey to pursue other endeavors, such as starring on The L Word: Generation Q.

Mia Kirshner (Jenny Schecter)

Mia Kirshner was a professional actress by the time she was a teenager; when she was cast on The L Word, her long list of film and TV credits included Murder in the First (1995), The Crow: City of Angels (1996), and Not Another Teen Movie (2001), as well as a recurring role on 24.

Post-L Word, Kirshner had a recurring role on The Vampire Diaries from 2010 to 2011 and was a regular on SyFy's Defiance from 2013 to 2014. Her other film credits include The Barrens (2012), Milton's Secret (2016), A Swingers Weekend (2017), and Crisis (2021).

Katherine Moennig (Shane McCutcheon)

Before she played Shane McCutcheon, Katherine Moennig got her first major TV role on the short-lived series Young Americans in 2000.

After The L Word ended, she had a main role on the TV series Three Rivers from 2009 to 2010 and played Lena on Ray Donovan from 2013 to 2019, as well as in 2022's Ray Donovan: The Movie. Her other film credits include The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), Gone (2012), and My Dead Boyfriend (2016). Moennig returned alongside her L Word costars on The L Word: Generation Q in 2019.

Erin Daniels (Dana Fairbanks)

Erin Daniels had a handful of film and TV credits to her name before she was cast on The L Word.

Since the end of the series, Daniels has appeared in such films as A Single Man (2009), The Sitter (2011), The Bling Ring (2013), and The Surrogate (2020). Her TV résumé post-L Word includes appearances on Swingtown, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, , and The Bold Type, among other shows. Daniels also reprised her role as Dana for a 2022 episode of The L Word: Generation Q.

Sarah Shahi (Carmen de la Pica Morales)

Before The L Word, Sarah Shahi appeared in episodes of such series as Spin City, Alias, Frasier, and Dawson's Creek, and in 2003's Old School.

Since 2009, her extensive work on television includes lead roles on Fairly Legal—which ran from 2011 to 2012—and Netflix's Sex/Life, as well as recurring roles on Chicago Fire from 2012 to 2013, Person of Interest from 2013 to 2016, and The Rookie in 2019. Her film credits include I Don't Know How She Does It (2011), Road to Paloma (2014), Hangman (2017), Language Arts (2020), and Black Adam (2022).

Daniel Sea (Max Sweeney)

Daniel Sea played Max Sweeney—who was notable for being the first series regular transgender character on TV—on The L Word.

He focused more on music after the series ended, but still accrued a handful of screen credits, including the films Don't Look Up (2009), The Casserole Club (2011), and The Dead and the Living (2012). The actor also made an appearance as Max in a 2022 episode of The L Word: Generation Q.

Ilene Chaiken (Co-creator, writer, and executive producer of The L Word)

Ilene Chaiken was a producer on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and had written the screenplays for two TV movies and the Pamela Anderson-starring 1996 film Barb Wire before she co-created The L Word with Michele Abbott and Kathy Greenberg.

Since the series ended, she has been an executive producer on The Real L Word: Los Angeles, Empire, The Handmaid's Tale, The L Word: Generation Q, and Law & Order: Organized Crime, all five for which she has also earned writing credits.

The L Word reunites

Ahead, see stunning photos of the cast and co-creator in Entertainment Weekly's exclusive 2017 reunion, two years prior to Generation Q.